Short Communication: Critical Comments on a ‘Novel Mechanical Model of Dipteran Flight’ (Miyan & Ewing, 1985)

Abstract

According to the classical investigation of Boettiger & Furshpan (1952), the wing beat of flies is accompanied by a bistable mechanism, the ‘click mechanism’. This mechanism is controlled by the pleurosternal and tergopleural muscles (see Heide, 1971 ; Pfau, 1978; Pfau, Schroeter & Steitz, 1977). Recently doubts have been raised concerning the existence of the click mechanism during flight (Miyan & Ewing, 1985a,b). The authors suspect that the click mechanism is an artefact of CCl4 anaesthesia and propose a novel mechanical model of dipteran flight. In the following I analyse this model critically.